Oblivion's Downfall
by Kittycat-popko
Summary: Against his better Judgement, Axel tells Roxas what he suspects will go down at Castle Oblivion. Roxas secretly follows him, and there, meets Sora. What happens when you meet the other half of yourself? Axel/Roxas,Riku/Sora
1. Chapter 1

My first Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes.

Pairings are:

Axel/Roxas

Xigbar/Demyx

Xemnas/Saïx

Zexion/Lexaeus

Marluxia/Vexen

Riku/Sora

Larxene/Namine

Kairi/Selphie

Slight Roxas/Sora/Axel/Riku.

Summary: Against his better judgement, Axel tells Roxas of what he suspects will go down at Castle Oblivion. Despite Axel's warnings, Roxas secretly follows Axel to C.O. whilst he's there; he meets up with Sora, the very thing the Organisation wants to avoid. What happens when you meet the other half of yourself?

It was quiet in the world that never was. The long, grey and white halls were filled with a deafening silence, not even broken by the echoes of distant footsteps of members making their way from room to room. Even the dusks were absent. As a reward for their exceptionally hard work, the members of Organisation XIII had been given three days off to do as they pleased. Naturally, almost all of them fled the castle within fifteen minutes, off to various worlds for a well-earned rest. It was not often that Xemnas gave them leave to enter worlds when not on a mission, and so they took the opportunity to explore when it presented itself.

Some of the Nobodies stayed behind, either through lack of interest in the other worlds, or for one particular member, because they kept on working, holiday be damned. This member was none other than Saïx, the organisation's resident workaholic.

At this particular moment, Saïx was reading out the weekly social reports to his superior.

"It has been observed that no. II continues to take great pleasure in surprising no. IX via warping to the ceiling in front of him. He has repeatedly caused no. IX to almost injure himself due to his frightened reaction, and has been spoken to about the timing of his… surprise attacks."

"Indeed. Well, I suppose that will have to do. After all, Demyx does not seem too opposed to the attentions of Xigbar" Xemnas mused, leaning back in his chair and crossing his feet on the desk next to his coffee.

The social reports were Xemnas' idea of keeping tabs on the relationships and interactions between the members of the Organisation. It had worked quite well, as he had already discovered seeds of discontent and betrayal beginning to bloom. However, the reports, covering _all_ of the Nobodies interactions, from the serious to the most mundane, had also unearthed some _quite_ interesting tidbits of information as well.

"Lastly, it has been discovered that the relationship between no. VIII and no. XIII has progressed to sexual" Saïx finished, in the exact same tone as the rest of the report had been read in, without hesitation or any indication of embarrassment. This drew a small chuckle from his superior, both at the relatively unsurprising news, and at Saïx's reaction, or lack thereof.

"It has, has it? It's about time, Axel has only been mentally undressing Roxas for a month now. Still, I doubt this will impact on their ability to work efficiently together in missions, as Axel is unlikely to have the ability to distract Roxas when he's working." Xemnas said, idly examining his fingernails.

A short, comfortable silence ensued, until Saïx broke it with a respectful half-bow.

"Superior, that concludes the last of the reports. May I be dismissed?" he asked, knowing full well what Xemnas' answer would be. Xemnas slowly trailed his gaze up Saïx's body, the hunger in his eyes apparent as he regarded Saïx with hooded lids and a lazy smirk that sent delicious shivers down his spine and heat pool in his loins.

"No, you may not" Xemnas murmured; his voice low and laced with desire. He uncrossed his legs and let his feet fall to the floor, beckoning the blue haired man with a flick of his finger, watching as his lover sauntered over and fell to his knees, his lips parted with breathless anticipation.

"Hey Roxie, catch"

Axel laughed as Roxas fumbled the packaged ice cream and fell backward from his perch on the edge of the clock tower.

"Don't call me that" Roxas mumbled as he righted himself, although he had long given up on Axel ever ceasing use of the nickname. Besides, he was used to it now, and it was possibly – heaven forbid – growing on him. But he kept up the façade of protest anyway, because give the redhead an inch; he'd take the whole goddamn mile.

Axel ignored the comment – as usual – and seated himself beside the blonde, so close that their thighs were touching, and put his arm around the blonde after sending the packaging from his own ice cream fluttering to the ground. He ignored Roxas' reproachful glare – what did he care about the environment, he was a Nobody after all – and gazed up into the sky, sighing contentedly.

"I'm going to miss this" he murmurs, "Castle Oblivion is one of the dullest places ever"

Roxas stiffened slightly at the mention of the castle. Axel had told him about his upcoming mission yesterday, and he had despaired at the loss of his lover, even if it was temporary. There was something that Axel was keeping from him though; he had been remarkably close-mouthed about the whole debacle, which was unusual to say the least, as Axel was usually descriptive and long-winded in any explanations he gave.

Axel didn't seem to notice Roxas' displeasure; as lost in his thoughts as he was. He was waging an internal war with his conscience, which demanded he tell his ,over of what he suspected, which went outright against his orders and better judgement. Roxas would worry, he'd want to help, and Axel would not put him in danger, would not let Marluxia – the bastard – anywhere near the keyblade wielder. Even if he were to die at the castle, as long as Roxas was safe he would be happy. And then there was the subject of the Keyblade Master; no one knew what would happen should Roxas and Sora ever meet, and Axel could not chance Roxas being absorbed. He was a selfish man, he knew that; but it didn't change the fact that he would rather have Roxas _here_ than let him become whole again, and risk losing him.

"There's talk of treachery in the Organisation"

And he lost. His conscience won over him, and he blurted out the words without thinking. No going back now.

"What?" Roxas turned to look at him, his sharp gaze confused and questioning.

"That's why I'm being sent to Castle Oblivion. There is a traitor in our midst, and they are amongst those being sent to Castle Oblivion" he paused, and Roxas kept silent, waiting for him to continue, dread sitting in his stomach like stone. Axel sighed.

"I never did tell you what my specific job in the Organisation was, did I. I take out those who betray the Organisation. Marluxia may have the title, but I'm the true assassin"

Roxas stared at him, his eyes wide.

"You're… an assassin?"

"Yeah, it's what I do best. I weed out those whose interests are in conflict with the Organisation and eliminate them. That is going to be my job at Castle Oblivion; follow and obey Marluxia in order to determine who the traitor is, and eliminate them. Use any means necessary" he finished bitterly. "It's dangerous, I won't deny that, and there's the possibility that I will fail. But I have no choice, unless I'd rather be a dusk"

They sat in silence as Roxas took all this in.

"Don't follow me" Axel warned, earning a surprised look from the blonde.

"Huh? I never said I would" Roxas replied, too quickly to be completely honest.

"It's written all over your face."

Axel sighed, and began again, his tone serious. "It's not safe for you to follow me. I already have a good idea of who the traitor is, and were he to encounter you away from the watchful eye of the superior; he would stop at nothing to get you under his control. And then… there's the keyblade master"

"Sora?" Roxas asked, his eyes wide. After much pestering, he convinced Axel to explain to him his connection to the brown haired boy that haunted his dreams.

"Yeah. We're being sent to Castle Oblivion under the pretence that we're to test the boy, and hopefully turn him to our cause. None of us have encountered him before, so we have no idea how he'll react to our plans. It doesn't look good though. But to return to my previous statement, Castle Oblivion is the last place you should be"

Roxas pouted, but did not reply. Thinking – no, hoping – that the blonde had accepted his demand not to be followed, Axel did not pursue the subject. Instead, he chose to direct the boy's attention to a much more preferable subject.

"You know, there's a nice hotel around here somewhere…"

"Soooo, when are we leaving?"

Larxene was sprawled across Marluxia's bed, staring disinterestedly at the ceiling whilst the pinkette tended to his plants.

"We will be leaving as soon as Axel returns" Marluxia replied, gently caressing the leaves of the last of his plants as he watered it. It wasn't necessary to water his plants, they survived just fine on the darkness, but he liked the normality of the gesture. It let him forget he was a Nobody, even for a little while.

"… I'm gonna go check if pyro-boy's back" Larxene said after a few minutes, and left the plant wielder alone in his room. Marluxia finished watering his plants and, after surveying the room with a small, satisfied smirk, also left the room. He walked down the hallway towards the grey room, ignoring the feeling of being closed in that the blank greyscale walls inspired. If _he_ were the superior of the Organisation, he would not have the place looking so empty and blank. The place did not need to reflect the emptiness they felt inside.

Axel was indeed back, and was reclining on a couch trying his best to ignore Larxene's chattering whilst not appearing to do so, a feeling most members knew well. Despite being possibly the most sadistic of them all, Larxene was still a woman, and a talkative one at that. She liked to talk, she liked people to hear her talk, and gods forbid should they ignore her. Most of them had learnt to tune her out while giving the occasional nod, hum of agreement or murmur of disapproval. It was likely that Larxene knew of this, but probably didn't care, as essentially she was still getting what she wanted.

She noticed that Marluxia had arrived and walked over to him, leaving a relieved Axel behind.

"You ready?" she asked, a bright, false smile plastered on her face. He knew that she was not looking forward to going to Castle Oblivion. Her idea of taking over the Organisation was to kill them one by one, slowly and painfully. But she wasn't stupid; she knew that wouldn't be possible with their situation. "We're all here"

"Well then," Marluxia smirked, "what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Like it? Hate it? Reviews would be much appreciated.

Don't expect updates very often, I'm a slow writer and a chronic procrastinator.

KittyCat~


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, yes, I know, it's been ages. A lot of things have happened, and to be honest, I forgot about this story. But, well, here's the next bit :)

"Wow… this place certainly is…"

"Boring" Larxene stalked past Axel, who lingered in the entrance, gaping at the long, seemingly endless pure white halls, the contrast of the dark shadows cast by the pillars making the place almost appear black and white. And he thought Never Was was bad.

"Larxene, Axel and I will inhabit the upper levels of the castle" Marluxia was speaking. "Whereas Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion will reside in the lower regions of the castle, as the climate and temperature control of the basement is ideal for a laboratory, or so Vexen tells me.

Marluxia continued to outline the living arrangements of the six in the same disinterested tone that made it evident, to Vexen and Larxene at least, that he was thinking of nothing other than his plants. He had probably decided the arrangements upon his first visit to the castle.

"You have two days during which you may settle yourselves in. after that, we will begin to prepare the castle for Sora's arrival" and with that, he dismissed them. They split into two groups, Marluxia, Axel and Larxene leaving though the door directly opposite the entrance, Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion taking the right hall down to the basement.

"Honestly Vexen, I have no idea how you put up with him" Zexion murmured, nose stuck in his book. It was called the 'Red Book' by Carl Jung, a famous Psychologist in one of the worlds he had visited. The book was like a diary, a description of what the man had seen when he induced hallucinations on himself. And hallucinations, or illusions, as Zexion called them, were his speciality.

"Neither do I" replied Vexen, glaring down the hall as if it had offended him.

"With some luck, _we _can avoid him for the majority of our stay here" Lexaeus murmured, 'we' meaning him and Zexion. For it was foolish to think that the Pink-haired pervert would leave their blonde scientist companion alone when he, at last, had the man in a lower position than himself. Or at least, he thought so.

They found the door that lead to the basement – helpfully labelled with poisonous-looking vines – and began their descent into the cool, dark depths. The place wasn't too bad, if a bit gloomy, but the darkness helped to get rid of the glaring brightness of the white walls.

"The place certainly does have good temperature control" Zexion commented, feeling a need to break the oppressive silence that had descended upon them.

"Yes, and it's not too bright either, meaning we can adjust the lighting to our preference" Vexen replied dryly, surveying the room with an interested gaze. They had reached what they assumed was the main room of the private quarters, and it was here that all their belongings had been placed. With a wave of his hand, Zexion summoned a few dusks.

"Begin unpacking our belongings in our rooms. Call more of your comrades to help if this is too difficult" he ordered, and turned to the other two, a small smile gracing his features. "Let's get familiar with this place, shall we?"

Roxas quickly stepped back yet again as he spied a member of the Organisation, hiding in an alleyway as he waited for the whistling water wielder to pass. With an inaudible sigh of relief, he took off the instant Demyx turned the corner, and continued on his way to the permanent portal to Twilight Town.

He had to get there before he could use the dark corridor, as Xemnas would be able to instantly tell who was using it and where they were going if it was used in The World That Never Was. Plus, use of the portal drew the heartless, and he really didn't have time to fend them off. Axel's fiery trail was already getting old.

Vexen had discovered early on that the higher ranked nobodies with their own unique abilities left residue of their presence behind wherever they went, their personal element mingling with the darkness to make it their own. To a Nobody, or the trained eye, the residue was like a trail of breadcrumbs, a means of tracking a particular Nobody.

However, the residue dispersed quickly, suffusing in the darkness to the point of being unrecognizable to even the most perceptive Nobody. For identification purposes, as a means of telling if a Nobody had been in a particular area and, if they were lucky, which Nobody, this severely diluted residue was enough.

For tracking however, it was useless.

Vexen had discovered, with some tests that the residue behaved very much like radioactive material. Its dispersion could be measured in half-lives, typically of around two hours. Within twenty four hours, the residue was two ten-thousandths of its original strength; almost undetectable.

And so Roxas had left merely an hour after the six had disappeared, frantically following Axel's trail. His detour to Twilight Town was going to waste precious time, but he couldn't risk alerting the Superior to his departure. He began to run as the portal came into view, passing through Betwixt and Between at breakneck speed. As he came out, he instantly squinted and shielded his eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun.

Despite being a wielder of light, Roxas unfortunately did not have the ability to adjust to the sudden change in lighting as he entered the world which seemed to be perpetually suspended in mid sunset. Axel had told him that Twilight Town looked like this during most of the day, except for early mornings and during the night. It didn't help in giving Roxas an accurate depiction of the current hour, and so he did not hesitate in opening a dark corridor, again tuning his senses to the residue Axel had left in the darkness. He followed it through to the other side, ad exited into a large open green field, where it was clear as day.

And there, jutting out of the cliff in a dark, imposing manner, was Castle Oblivion.

There was no doubt in Roxas' mind that this was the place, the towers splitting into three spiky turrets that looked oh-so similar to their symbol. He snuck up to the large front doors and glanced around, eyes straining to detect anyone's presence. It would not do now to get caught, not when he was so close.

In the end he settled for using a dark corridor once again, this time to come out on the opposite side of the large doors. He would not have been surprised if opening the door had alerted Marluxia to his presence, and the pinkette turning up to greet him. Until he saw who we was, of course. Self-consciously Roxas pulled up his hood to hide his face, glancing around at the plain white walls uneasily. He had not been here five minutes, and already it felt as though he was being watched, malevolent creatures lurking just out of sight waiting for him to let his guard down.

_I need to move_ he thought, glancing left and right, his senses screaming as he felt the familiar presence of the heartless. They were coming from the left, so he headed right without a second thought, his footsteps echoing down the hall, the sound deafening in the stark silence.

He still glanced left and right, looking for somewhere to go, to get out of this endless hall, when he saw a splash of colour. Halting, he drew closer to see a door, its surface covered in dark green vines. In the centre of the door, a few inches above Roxas' eye level, the vines twisted to form the word 'Basement'. Carefully avoiding the almost-silver thorns, he pushed the door open and stepped into the considerably darker stairwell. He removed his hood for better visibility, squinting into the darkness as his eyes adjusted.

He cautiously descended, flinching with every loud echo from his footsteps, praying that none of the six were nearby. He found another door, this one labelled 'common room', and gave it wide berth, opting instead to continue exploring. He didn't like the idea of being caught, thank you very much.

"Roxas, what a surprise"

He froze, eyes widening comically as he turned around. Damn, so much for not getting caught.

"H-hey Zexion" he chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck as he shot the man a pleading look. _Don't send me to Marluxia don't send me to Marluxia don't send me to Marluxia don't-_

The slate-haired man raised a slender eyebrow.

"Come with me" he ordered, turning away and stalking down the hall. Roxas hurried after him, now certain that he was being taken to the plant-wielder. Instead, Zexion led him through the door that had been labelled 'common room', and into another door, this one with 'VI' on the surface. Zexion's room.

Zexion strode inside and leaned on the desk, watching as Roxas shuffled inside nervously, his eyes trained on the floor.

"Shut the door"

Roxas complied, trying his best not to flinch at the ominous 'click' the latch made as it slid shut.

"Sit"

Roxas sat on the bed, as there were no seats, and didn't raise his eyes. To say he was scared was an understatement. He was _terrified_. Those of the Organisation invited other members into their rooms for one reason only, one he had discovered courtesy of Axel. And he did _not_ want to do _that_ with Zexion.

"Oh for gods' sake Roxas, calm down. I'm not going to _rape_ you" the Illusionist snapped, causing Roxas to look up at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"It's written all over your face" Zexion dryly pointed out "and besides, the reason you're in my room this current moment is because I still haven't decided what to do with you, and I don't want Vexen or Lexaeus turning up and making that decision for me"

"Oh"

"Now tell me, why are you here?"

Roxas looked at the slate-haired man, trying to gauge his trustworthiness.

"Axel told me there are traitors in the Organisation" he said at last "and that that it's his job to eliminate them. I was worried"

"Nonsense, Nobodies can't feel worry" Zexion scoffed "But your concern is still well founded. There is indeed a traitor, and they are here in Castle Oblivion. It is entirely possible that Axel may lose his life on this mission. Indeed, all that are in this castle are in that danger"

Roxas lowered his head, eyes narrowed with worry. His coming here would probably cause more problems for Axel should he be found out. Anger blossomed inside him, anger at himself, for being so selfish, for not considering Axels situation and point of view. But he banished the thoughts. He was here now; there was no point in lamenting over what he had already done. Head still bowed, he looked up at Zexion with wide, pleading eyes.

"Will you… will you tell anyone I'm here?" he asked softly. The slate-haired man looked down at him, and Roxas thought he saw something akin to sympathy flash in his eyes, but it was gone before he could be sure.

"…no, I will not" Zexion sighed "it would cause unnecessary trouble. The last thing anyone needs is Marluxia having yet another puppet" the last part he muttered under his breath and Roxas was unable to catch it.

"Thank you" Roxas smiled at the Illusionist and rose to leave.

"There is an empty room in the next hall. Use that as your quarters, and I will inform the others that it is for my personal use. Stay in there until I come to get you" Roxas smiled at the man over his shoulder as he paused, flashing a mischievous smirk.

"Will do… Zexy"

"Don't call me that!"


End file.
